NZ Kitsch

 I have a very dear friend who is originally from New Zealand.  He is one of those people who moves around a lot, a few years here, a few years there.  Thankfully he comes back to Melbourne regularly as he is a pretty special kind of guy and very dear to my heart.  Soppy, I know. 

Anyway, he moved back to New Zealand several years ago for a stint with his family.  While he was there I found in a local op shop a 1950s New Zealand licence holder made of leather and embossed with a Kiwi, an idea was formed and I began my mission.  I collected all New Zealand kitsch souvenirs and memorabilia that I could find and I sent it to him, piece by piece.  There were magnificent pieces such as 1970s coasters, Air New Zealand scarves, table cloths, tea towels, and a rather fetching brown candle that in the right angle was a kiwi (the wrong angle and it looked like a man's head with a long pony tail).  Everything was retro.  I know this man's family well, having shared a house with him and two of his sisters over the course of several years, they are all into retro kitsch stuff, so I believe that often he was relieved of these treasures quite promptly and that they are displayed with pride in various homes around Wellington to this very day.

Now that he is back in Australia I have ceased my search for my NZ stuff.  Okay, I still look just in case there is something so sensational that I couldn't possible leave it, but I tend not to buy willy- nilly.  

I am regularly in and out of the local op shops (our family is dressed almost exclusively in second hand clothes) and just yesterday I stopped in at the Don Bosco Op Shop on Sydney Road to see if there were any bargains  This shop often has baby clothes for 50 cents a piece, other stuff can be a bit over priced, but it is worth checking, just in case.  Recently my partner picked up 30, yes THIRTY, Fire King Peach lustre mugs there for the princely sum of 20 cents each.  Unheard of!

So very, very un-PC.

Anyway, what should I see, staring at me from the record rack...  KIWIS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA!  What a treasure!  

Although I am sure this album is worth even cent of the $1 asking price - for the cover alone, I do not have a record player, neither does my friend, and neither of us need more stuff.  I took this photo instead, and left the record on the rack.